Weedkiller-resistant maize could be planted in the UK in 2015 after the EU
gave Britain the option to 'opt-out'

Genetically modified crops could be planted in the UK as soon as next year after the Government backed an EU ruling allowing their introduction to English farming.

Two strains of maize resistant to weedkiller were given the go ahead after the EU decided individual member states should be given the power to opt out of using the GM crop.

A vote by agricultural ministers in Luxembourg gave de facto approval to the mutated crops but delayed giving the green light to all commercial GM growing for 10 years as it needed all member states to agree.

Environment Secretary Owen Paterson said the EU decision would fast track the maize, which is resistant to the industrial weedkiller Roundup, into farms and onto supermarket shelves.

He said: “This is a real step forward in unblocking the dysfunctional EU process for approving GM crops, which is letting down farmers and stopping scientific development.

“Farmers will have more power in deciding whether to grow GM crops that have passed a robust, independent safety assessment.”

The crops have been blocked by the Scottish and Welsh governments and anti-GM campaigners have criticised the so-called ‘opt-out’ decision as “catastrophic” for wildlife and organic farming.

Dr Helen Wallace, Director of GeneWatch UK, said: "The UK Government has colluded with commercial lobbyists to fast track RoundUp Ready GM maize into England, despite the expected harm to British wildlife such as birds and butterflies caused by blanket spraying of these crops with weedkiller."

"If some farmers in England press ahead with GM cultivation as a result of this proposal, conventional and organic farmers across the country will face the unnecessary risk of loss of markets due to contamination with GM".

Peter Melchett, from the organic industry body the Soil Association, told the Daily Mail: ‘In future, a committed, pro-GM Secretary of State like Owen Paterson could take the decision to make England a “GM country”.

“This will lead to farmers losing export markets to the rest of Europe and most of the rest of the world, which would be catastrophic."